You Can Trust Me
by Vampire Girl for LIFE
Summary: Alex feels drawn to a special someone, a someone who keeps hiding things from her. He's kind, warm, and different then the people Alex has met at her old schools. Will Renji be able to open up and tell her the truth? RenXOC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

_Being the New Kid Sucks!_

"Isn't that a boy name?"

Alex sighed, every school she went to people always said that same thing and she always replied with: "Well I _am_ a girl, you'll just need to get used to it." But, oddly, no one even asked her what her name was when she arrived at yet another new school. She shrugged and went to find her locker.

The bell rang and she realized she would be late for her first class. Not bothered by this, she took her stuff out from her locker and slowly made her way to her class. Alex never really cared about class; to her, it was just another room with another group of admirers.

"Come in," The teacher said when Alex couldn't decide to either walk in or knock.

She went to the back of the classroom and sat in the empty desk between a petite girl with black hair tied in a bun, and a boy with blonde hair and bangs. As she did this, she was surprised not to see all eyes on her. Growing up her she'd moved to so many schools, she was used to the fact that everyone always looked at her in fascination, you know, her being the new kid.

Here, no one even introduced themselves. The boy sitting beside her didn't smile her way, and the teacher didn't take one glance at her and decide to introduce her to the class. No one even told her what unit they were working on. And worst, for the first time in her life, she felt like she was the new kid, a loser.

She was always being treated as the most popular girl around so it striked her as odd when no one seemed to care. She was never popular for her looks, in fact, she had always thought she was had plain, boring looks. But, being the new kid, everyone wanted to get to know her. Sort of like fresh meat for her school. It really took a hit at her self-esteem so she tried forgetting about it by paying attention to the teacher.

Class was dismissed and Alex took her time gathering her stuff, maybe the teacher was strict and they were afraid of getting detention. But everyone just exited the room, talking amongst themselves without even a glace her way. Alex was immediately furious, how is this possible! No one has ever gone without saying a word to her!

Then realization hit her: _maybe it's_ me_?!_

She ran to the washroom and began to analyze herself. Hair: brown, the colour of poop(at least that's what she thought),straight with a bit of layers and bangs. Face: light blue eyes, and only a spot of cover-up to cover that one blemish she despised. Clothes: well, everyone here wore the same uniform. Shoes: shiny black flats with a bow on it. She frowned. Alex hated looking at herself in the mirror. She thought they were built to silently laugh at her. She rememberd the girl sitting beside her. Hinamori, was it? The girl had every single strand of her hair in a bun, except for her bangs, and there wasn't one zit on her face.

Maybe that's why no one is talking to me, she thought. They all thinking I'm just another boring student. Nothing compared to everyone else that goes to this school.

You have to understand Alex's past before making any assumptions. She'd been to so many different schools that she expected the same thing to happen each time. The guys would try to flirt with her while the girls envied it. It was just something she so used to, it was like her very own drug; she needed it. Without it, her self-esteem would force her into a whole in which she can never crawl out of. She was so used to being the new student that had visited so many different places and fascinated people- not the new kid that didn't even know where her next class was.

Alex walked back to her locker trying her hardest not to think about the people at this school. When she closed her locker, a tall figure with bright red hair was beside her, collecting his things from his locker. Maybe God had sent this boy here as an apology for His mistake of sending her to this school. Maybe, this was her chance to prove herself.

She smiled at herself, knowing this time, the boy will look. "Excuse me," she said in her sweetest tone, "um, I'm sorta new here, could you please tell me where I can find Ms Yang's English class?"

The boy didn't turn his head, "grade 10?" Alex nodded. "Follow me; I'm headed there now." He closed his locker and began to walk.

Alex was shocked by his unfriendliness, "Why is everyone treating me like this?" She asked to no one in particular.

The boy, overhearing what she said, stopped walking and turned to look at her for the first time. Alex, who was trying to catch up, accidently bumped into him. "No one here cares about new kids," he said. "If you want friends, start talking to people, don't just wait for people to come up to you."

"It's not as easy as you think," Alex said, shocked. "You don't know how many schools I've been to. Everyone always came up to _me_. Do you actually think it's that easy to just start off at a new school and make friends in the blink of an eye?!" Alex was beginning to get mad, how could he talk to her like that?!

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry," he said, apology that so clearly written on his face. "I'm Renji."

Alex smirked. Designer sunglasses _and_ tatoos all of your head? she thought_._

"Well, Renji, you shouldn't be making judgments before getting to know a person, that's how you _loose_ friends." And with that, she walked to her class ahead of Renji, already having a clear view where her class was.

~*~

This time, Alex didn't wait for people to come up to her, she just took her stuff and left. Clearly, she was trying to prove a point to Renji- that she no longer cared and can survive this school without having to do any hair-flipping or batting her eyes. But she knew she was only doing it to get his attention. The boy had interested her the moment she caught a look at his appearance.

"Listen, I really am sorry about what I said earlier, it's just you have to know that no one here is going to pay any attention to you, and it is best if you don't pay any attention to us." Renji said when he arrived at his locker beside Alex. He had made a mistake the last time he talked to her and thought he should make things clear.

"Excuse me?" She said surprised at where the conversation has gotten.

"Just promise me you'll mind your own business." He said.

Alex turned her back on him and headed to the cafeteria. What he was saying made no sense and this school was getting odder and odder. She was in line for a muffin, her thoughts on how the pineapple on display looked like someone's head, when a familiar voice boomed over the cafeteria.

"Oh, come on, Alex! Don't be like that, listen to me!"

Alex froze and turned around, only to see everyone's eyes on her. She has never been so embarrassed in all her life, never had she have a room go quiet just because someone had said something to her a bit too loud. She felt the warmth of her blood rush to her face and knew that everyone would noticed the change in her pale skin.

The time felt frozen in her eyes, like it was all moving in slow-motion. She would of laughed about it, made some wise crack about how Renji should learn to use his indoor voice, but something took control of her and she thought about the chances of all of this being a dream.

_Think, Alex! Don't just stand there!_

_But.. There's nothing I can do. Let me just hide in a corner..._

_Don't be a loser! Put your tray away, and take the closest exit. Slowly. slowly, act normal, regular. Don't let them see how you really feel._

How I really feel? she thought, I feel like I'm going to scream if I don't get out of here fast enough!

Alex made her way to the door she entered from. Trying to imagine no one was in the cafeteria, she walked past all the scary eyes until she reached the door and was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. It was Renji.

"Alex, I-" He began, aware of his mistake.

"Don't, Renji." She said, in that scary-calm voice she always heard her dad use when he was mad. "Just, don't."

Alex brushed by Renji and mentally sighed when she was out of sight of the people in the cafeteria. She was about to make it to her locker when that same voice that ruined her lunch, spoke right beside her.

"Please, I didn't mean to, I was just-"

_Just what...?_

"Leave me alone!"

It was loud. Probably louder then she thought was possible. But, once again, all eyes were on her and she realized what she had done.

_She_ was that loud voice.

Her eyes went wide and her hands went up to cover her mouth. She slammed her locker and ran for it, headed to the first doors she saw.

Renji was frozen in his spot too. He never knew Alex was capable of being so loud. Of letting her anger out and speaking like, well, like a shinigami would. But it was the fact that he had compared her to a Death god that worried him. Many humans around the world have been experiencing their own meetings with spirits, and depending on their spiritual energy, they'd become substitute shinigami. Not that it wasn't a bad thing for Soul Society, but Renji just thought humans should live as humans for as long as they can.

~*~

Alex stopped running when she was far into the fearsome forest near the school. This was the wrong place to come, the spooky shadows, the tall dark trees; it didn't help her come to a normal understanding of what just happened.

She couldn't help but hear reruns of Renji's warning: Don't pay any attention to us. No one here is going to notice you. Just mind your own business. What does he even mean? Why would he tell me that? What the hell was it even about?! What he said to her after class was the complete opposite of what he told her before. What ever conclusion she came to about Renji and the students at her new school, it would always seem abnormal.

Alex thought about how stupid she was for being embarrassed like that in the cafeteria. It's not like she wasn't used to people looking at her. And so what if no one knew anything about her and their first impression was that she was a freak, a loser? _The New kid_. She sighed, understanding her own words.

She hated her father for doing this to her. Why did they always move? Couldn't her father see that they were doing just fine, that he could tell his boss he doesn't need to move here or there for more money when they're doing just fine? And why doesn't her mom ever do anything about it. She's a woman, she can take charge once in a while, too! She was so tired of putting on a pretty face and pretending she didn't care. All she wanted was group of trustworthy friends, she didn't even care about being popular!

She came to a point where she thought it was all stupid and gave up. _I'm going to forget that it ever happened and start all over!_ she decided, proud she came up with a good idea. Who knows, maybe her father might stay in this city and she can stay with the friends she makes.

Alex had been walking in the forest for some time when she realized she had absolutely no clue on how to get out of it. She was about to give up when she heard a chuckle coming deep from the woods. Alex turned around, startled, and then laughed at herself. "I never did like forests," she told herself. And then she heard something else.

"Mmm, another gorgeous female to eat!"

**New story!! :) Let me know if it's good (or bad), please! Comment!!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

_Hatred and Loneliness Only Make You Stronger_

Alex froze, wide-eyed, a scream stuck in her throat. She was aware of the presence behind her when she spun around and demanded to know who was there.

"Oh? You can hear me?" The voice asked, almost humorously.

Alex tried following the voice, hoping to find the person, or thing, that was talking to her. Sadly, she saw only the rustle of the leaves on the spot where she guessed the invisible creature was- about 20 meters away from her.

"But, you can't see me," the voice added. This time Alex could _feel_ its cocky smile shimmer in the air around her.

"_What_ are you?!" She demanded, trying her hardest not to show her fear. In truth, Alex was more confused then anyone ever had the right to be. She didn't know if the students were playing a prank on her or if she needed glasses. She even considered it to be a dream.

She hesitated only for a second before deciding she didn't want to stay there long enough to know. Alex bent down, pretending to tie her shoes, picked up a rock and attempted to throw it at the area where the voice was coming from. She turned around to quick to realize that the rock had hit what looked like an invisible wall, and then drop to the ground.

Alex was too caught up in running away that she would have missed what happened next if it hadn't been for the log that stopped her from crossing. She spun around again checking to see where the 'person' had gone but, instead, she only saw the autumn leaves blowing away in the wind.

_Something's wrong, _she thought. Surely, she had sensed another presence, a huge one, trailing her. Where had it gone?

At the exact moment when Alex felt like collapsing on the forest floor, the sense of a presence very close to her returned. Only this time it was stronger, much stronger. Not only did she hear voic_es_, she also heard clashes of metal ringing and names like _zabimaru, wabisuke_, and_ tobiume_ being called. But the strangest had to be the sense of all her energy being drained, as if something had her frozen in place, something so strong and powerful it sent shivers down her spin and made the air around her too thick to breath.

Alex knew what was happening to herself when her eyes began to close and she lost knowledge of everything that was happening. In the distance, she thought she could hear someone calling her name over and over.

~*~

_Gugh, that stupid Grand Fisher!_ Renji thought as he and five other shinigamis were asked to handle the invasion in the forest nearby.

"Let's go, guys!" Hisagi Shuuhei shouted behind him where the others where willingly following him. After all, it was the same forest Renji saw Alex run into earlier.

Renji almost stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the Grand Fisher almost meters from where Alex running. Actually, the same thought ran through all of their heads: _Can Alex Montego _see _spirits?_

They couldn't linger on that thought forever and eventually they unsheathed their zanpakutos and launched themselves at the hollow in front of them. Deeply injured, the Grand Fisher returned to Heuco Mundo avoiding his death and disappointed in his loss of yet another meal.

Renji returned his gaze to Alex and noticed her eyes threatened to close and her knees buckled underneath her. He called her name several times but when she did not respond, he wondered if she could really see him. Renji made his way to Alex and carried her back to the school where he was hoping the nurse can tend to her illness.

"Does she know?" The nurse replied, referring to their secret.

"We're not sure," Kira Izuru, one of the five that was in the battle, replied.

"It looked like she, at least, had a clue of the danger she was in," Hisagi added.

The nurse nodded and pursed her lips into a thin line, thinking of what they would have to do. "In a situation like this, the Captain Commander would want us to use a memory-loss spray from Urahara on her. Just to make sure. We wouldn't want any harm to be done on her because of us."

The shinigami nodded their heads and began to exit the room with the exception of Renji, of course.

"How long until she wakes up?" He asked, looking down at Alex's frail figure.

"Not much longer," the nurse took the thermometer out of Alex's mouth, checked her temperature, and then looked up at Renji. "You should go back to class. We _are_ trying to keep an image."

"I would," he replied, searching for a good enough excuse. "But, I'm a... a friend! Yea, it would probably be best if she woke up to someone she knew." Sometimes, it even surprised Renji when he came up with a good excuse under pressure.

The nurse, not wanting to be any trouble, raised an eyebrow in question and then turned her back and continued whatever she was doing before.

Renji took the moment to really take in Alex Montego. In his eyes, she had soft brown hair and eyes with incredibly long eyelashes that casted shadows beneath them. She had the smallest nose, but full pink lips. Her skin was tan enough for you to know she had to be Spanish.

Renji was so distracted that it took the girl next to him three tries before she had gotten his attention.

"Hellloooo! You there, Renji?" She asked.

"Huh? Oh, yea. What's up, Matsumoto?" Renji said, taking his eyes off of Alex.

Matsumoto smirked, an expression that, when she used it, you knew she was thinking of something devious. She had long and thick orange hair and was tall compared to most of the girls at this school.

"Are you here to skip class or are you falling in love with Alex Mon-te-go?" Matsumoto questioned pronouncing Alex's family name in syllables.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Why are you here?" Renji asked, trying to dodge the question with a question of his own. He didn't want to leave Alex's side. He felt it was his responsibility to stand beside her until her health got better- since it was his fault that she ended up in the forest. That, and because Alex striked him as a different and much more interesting human.

Matsumoto sighed and said in her whiny tone: "Hitsugaya-er-sensei," she paused glancing down at the new student still sleeping and continued, "got hit in the head with a soccer ball. He sent me here to get him ice- since he can't, well, you know."

Renji shrugged, "True."

Matsumoto took the ice and left the infirmary. As soon as she was out of sight, Renji turned his head to where Alex was beginning to regain conscious.

"Hey, Alex," He said, in a soft tone, aware of her hatred towards him. "How are you feeling?"

Alex, who was still a bit confused, snapped out of her reverie when Renji came into her sight. _Why is _he_ here_, she wondered_, why am _I_ here? _Alex almost jumped right out of bed if it wasn't for how close Renji was to her. Instead, she sat up and pushed herself away from him.

"Still mad at me, huh?"

"I believe I do have the right to be."

Renji sighed and sat back down on the chair beside him, hands folded on his lap. "Well, you didn't have to make a big scene about it, you didn't have to run away like that. Especially-"

"ME?!" Alex noted that her voice was too loud and brought back to a whisper. "Renji Abarai, you know I'm the new kid. _You_ didn't have to embarrass me like that in front of half the school!

"Now, now," he smirked, "you're giving me too much credit. You embarrassed yourself just fine without my help."

Alex took in a deep breath and closed her eyes; it's what she did when she was really mad. She'd shut her eyes and imagine nothing bad happened and there was no reason to be upset. Little by little, the blood that had rushed to her face and made it red would continue its regular flow and soon she'd be just like she was before. Only this time, she was hoping Renji wouldn't be there when she opened her eyes.

But there he was, good old Renji, amused by the sudden change of expression and colour on her face.

"How'd I get here?" Alex asked him, closing her eyes again. She realized it was easier to talk to Renji if she didn't have to look at him directly.

"Well, obviously I couldn't just leave you. You haven't even been here long enough to know the area." He said, hoping Alex wouldn't notice that he didn't really answer her question.

"So you just carried me away?" She asked, opening her eyes and looking at him.

"Well, yea, there wasn't anything else I could've done. I picked you up and brought you here." He paused, thought about it, and then asked: "Do you remember anything?"

Alex blushed at the thought of Renji carrying her and looked down; what if he thought she was fat? She mentally shook the thought away and answered his question. "Well, I remember running into the forest, and walking around a lot. I guess I must've gotten lost because when I wanted to come back," she looked up at Renji in confusion, "I couldn't find my way." Alex noticed that Renji wasn't meeting her eyes and asked, "How did you end up finding me?"

Before he could make up another excuse, the nurse entered the room again. "I thought I heard voices. How are you feeling, hunny?" She asked Alex, checking her temperature again.

"Just a bit dizzy. Thank you for your help," Alex said respectfully hoping she would be asked to go home early.

"Okay, well you can go back to class now. You'll make it just before fourth period." The nurse helped Alex off the bed and smiled at her politely, leading her towards the door.

Renji was about to leave too when the nurse called him over.

"Abarai Renji, fuku-taichou of the 6th Division, the Captain-Commander already has something to take care of, don't go and disobey his orders. Understood?" The nurse demanded, although Renji was much taller than she was, she talked to him as if he were merely inches tall.

"Yes, ma'am." Renji replied, a hint of humor in his thoughts.

~*~

Alex searched for her locker and was glad to find no one in the hallways. She put her bag over one shoulder and made her way to the washroom.

A flush later, Alex was washing her hands and looking at the damage. He hands were scratched and blood was almost covering her whole knee. It was a good thing she decided to wear her skirt and high knee socks; she didn't have to worry about staining her pants with the strong iron scent of blood. There were also leaves and dead grass tangled in her hair.

Momo Hinamori, the girl sitting beside her in first period, walked into the washroom when Alex was bent over, looking for a comb in her bag which was on the floor. She nervously blushed, apologized, and moved out of her classmate's way.

She was combing her hair when Momo came out of the stall, washed her hands, and asked: "I heard about the, uh, incident. Are you feeling okay?"

Alex didn't know what was more embarrassing; the fact that people were _already_ beginning to gossip, or the fact that someone actually confronted her about it.

Alex stammered before she explained that she probably just tripped over a log and isn't always so clumsy.

Momo, smiling, said: "Well, as long as you're not deeply injured. I hope you find this school to your liking." And with that, she left.

After scraping all the dirt off of her, Alex took her bag and left, spraying herself with body spray so that she wouldn't smell like dirt and trees.

_Like I'm actually going to enjoy this school, _she smirked.

~*~

"Hey neighbour," the familiar voice said next to Alex.

Alex didn't take her attention off the inside of her locker, "Hey stranger."

"Fair enough," Renji shrugged. "You shouldn't expect me to explain myself. Or anyone else, for that matter."

"I've realized," she said, still searching for her notebook. "You haven't explained much to me, anyways. After everything that happened, I really don't know what to expect."

"So what are you going to do?"

At the sudden change in his voice, Alex shut her locker door and turned to face the curious and anxious expression on Renji's face.

"I'm going to attend my math class," she said, knowing that's not what Renji wanted to know.

"And mind your own buisness?" He hoped.

"And mind my own buisness," she added.

"Good girl," he smiled patting her on the head as if she were a dog.

He was about to turn and walk away when Alex grabbed his arm and caught his attention.

"You owe me at least one explanation," she told him, pausing just in case he were to rebel. When he didn't she said, "Tell me _why_ you're doing this. Why are you going so far as to telling me you and the rest of the school aren't going to talk to me when the more you do talk to me, the more I'm going to rebel against it and ask questions."

This time, Renji didn't have to search his brain for a different excuse, he knew exactly what to say; no matter how cold and hurtful it may be. "Because I want you to leave this school; we all do."

_That's not true, that's not true_, she reminded herself over and over. How can the whole school hate her so much when they don't even know her? Does Renji really hate her that much to be scaring her away like this?

Alex didn't have time to just stand there and go through the possibilities. She held her books in a tight grasp and walked towards her next class. If there was one thing Alex knew about herself, it was that she was not a quitter. She would find out the school's, but most importantly Renji's, secret and make them acknowledge her.

And once Alex Montego starts something, she won't back down until her task is done; even if it kills her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

_Another Fall, Another Question_

_What does pi equal? _Alex wondered, chewing on a fingernail. Math was never her favourite subject, all the numbers and equations just didn't sink in.

At last, the bell rang, dismissing everyone from their Fifth Period class. Alex smiled to no one in particular as she collected her books, happy that the day was finally over. She couldn't wait to be home and have a space all to herself where she can lye down and relax.

She turned the corner expecting to see a familiar pineapple beside her locker. Instead, she was welcomed by the sight of a complete stranger at the other locker next to hers. He was not so much taller than her, but was very thin for a high school student. He seemed worried and covered must of his face with his dark-almost blue-hair. He had big dark eyes that sort of proved his innocence. Obviously a ninner.

A plan had launched inside of Alex's head, and she was already thinking about how easy it would be to make this boy speak.

"Konnichiwa!~" Alex said smiling oh-so-sweetly. The boy looked like he just recently came from Japan so she thought that she can make him feel comfortable with her by saying the only word she knew in Japanese.

"Hey," He replied without an accent or even any interest in the fact someone Spanish would know a word in Japanese. The only emotion he showed was more worry or maybe he was a bit scared.

She held back a sigh. "I'm Alex. I'm new here. And you are?"

The boy glanced at her stretched out arm and seemed to think about it before deciding to shake it. "Hanataro. So how was your first day?"

"I've had better." She said, wondering how much she can get the boy to say before he remembers he's supposed to ignore her.

"How many schools have you been to before this one?" Hanataro wondered, leaning on his locker door.

Alex was happy that the conversation was continuing normally. She almost forgot about her worries. Almost.

"I lost count after four, but it doesn't matter anymore. My dad is always working someplace else. 'I get more money working in this district,' he tells me every single time we move." She said, imitating her dad in the voice she always uses when she's mocking him.

"That's too bad. Do you think you'll stay here until you graduate?" He asked, looking down then up again.

Alex didn't know the true reason to his question but answered it truthfully. "Depends; maybe. There's only three more years left, anyways."

"Oh. Well, a bunch of us are-"

"Hanataro? Alex? Isn't it nice to see a familiar face? What were you saying Hanataro?" It was Renji. Of course it was him. Who else would ruin Alex's chances of making friends?

"N-Nothing. Sorry, Alex, I just remembered something I promised I'd do for my mother. B-Bye!" Hanataro took one last glance at Renji's threatening smirk and made a run for it before Alex could say anything.

Alex groaned in frustration and opened her locker, covering Renji's face with the door.

Renji opened his mouth to say something but only air escaped. It would be much easier for the both of them if he kept his remarks to himself.

The two parted and Renji silently watched as Alex made her way to the exit. She was about to ask someone for directions but after one tap on the shoulder of a boy with orange hair, she lost concentration of everything around her and would of fell to the ground if the boy hadn't grasped her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" He demanded, eyes staring into hers.

In that moment where their eyes met, so many things crossed through Alex's memory that she couldn't hold it in anymore. She started screaming and pulling on her hair. The pain! It set her head on fire! She saw so many figures and demons surrounding her. She saw the forest she got lost in but in a totally different way. Alex had no clue what was going on but if there was one thing she was possibly aware of it was that the people she was seeing in glimpses were the people from this school, and more importantly Renji.

_What the hell is going on?_ She thought, falling to her knees and clutching her head with her hands.

"It hurts!" She yelled between gasps of air.

Even though Alex's whole body felt like it was on fire, what hurt the most was knowing everybody was probably just staring at her like an idiot. She didn't know who was there or who the orange-haired boy was, but she knew that they would have gladly done nothing if the teachers didn't come out of their classrooms and begin taking charge.

~*~

_OhMyFrickin'Gosh! What the hell just happened to me? _Were Alex's first thoughts when she awoke on the same bed she was just on two hours before.

_Was it a dream?_

"Nope, it really did happen. You're _really_ accident-prone." She didn't realize she had said that last thought out loud.

"Why the hell are you here?" She asked him, putting as much venom in her voice as possible.

Renji's bored expression didn't change, but she didn't mistake the flash of hurt that past his eyes.

_Good, _she thought, _I shouldn't be the only one feeling hurt._

"Actually, I asked him to come with me." Alex followed the voice to a figure with orange hair.

It was _him_.

Alex' eyes widened as she remembered what happen. Shocked and confused, she pushed herself closer to the wall behind the bed she was sitting on and away from the boy.

"Why would you do that?" She asked him, hoping the two boys wouldn't notice her shaky tone.

"I thought you'd feel less scared if someone you know were beside you when you woke up. I'm Ichigo Kurosaki," he said taking a step closer.

Alex shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I mean, why are you here?"

Ichigo glanced at Renji and Alex knew they were having a silent discussion about her. She took that time to investigate further on what had happened to her. She was aware of the throbbing pain in her head and the way her muscles reacted to every move she made. She remembered the pain of the fire and shuddered from the memory. But, at last, she closed her eyes and forced herself to remember what she had seen.

_A giant - no, humongous! - monster approached me, its body covered in brown fur but its face a mask with a smile bigger than the Joker's. Its eyes were red and outlined with black. A grand hole right in the middle of its body. It contained bird-like hands and something hung from a rope coming out its head._

_I ran as fast as I can but the creature was approaching me. When I thought it had disappeared, it would return on the other side. A dead tree stopped my tracks and I turned around, ready to face what seemed like my death. _

_I was no longer alone. Classmates. Peers. I've seen them all before. Momo and Izuru from my first period class. And Renji, my locker neighbour. But things were different; they were running so fast I only saw glimpses. It even looked like they were standing on mid-air. They wore matching black robes and carried swords, each one different and unique. _

_They launched themselves at the monster, coming at different angles and calling names that didn't sound human. I watched in amazement and tried to stay awake but the texture in the air was so thick and heavy it forced me to collapse on the cold ground beneath me where I lost sense of everything but the vile taste of poison going down my throat._

Alex opened her eyes and was breathing so heavily it took her a while to come to her senses, and that was after Ichigo and Renji called for the nurse's help. Alex took the glass of water out of the nurse's hand and barely noticed how much her own hand was shaking.

She concentrated on what she saw earlier and thought about how it seemed she went through everything that happened before in a completely different way. What she thought was confusing before now made everything 10 times worse.

While Alex was gulping down her water, the nurse was instructing Renji and Ichigo to find out exactly what had happened to Alex when she made contact with Ichigo.

"It's your fault! Who ever heard of a shinigami that didn't know how to control his spiritual energy?!" Renji said barely above a whisper.

"Is it my fault you guys decided to crash in the Human World?!" Ichigo said back.

Alex didn't try to find out what they were saying. She set her cup down and grabbed her backpack from the bedside table.

"It's been a great first day, but I think it's time for me to go. Bye!" She told the boys, trying her best not to make eye contact.

"No, wait!" Ichigo called, reaching out to grab her arm.

In a motion so quick for mortal eyes to follow, Alex caught Ichigo's arm in a tight grasp and pushed it away.

"Don't ever touch me again," She warned him, her voice as cold and hard as her eyes.

In the silence that followed Alex thanked the nurse and exited the building leaving two confused and surprised shinigamis behind.

* * *

**Please comment!~ **

**I'll update ASAP. **

**Sorry for how long it's taking me xD;;**


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